


Witchling

by Astraea_717



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Hermione Granger, Brainwashed Loki, Civil war doesn’t happen, Everyone fears Hermione, F/M, Harry Potter is MOD, Hermione and Tony are besties, Hermione gets people’s shit together, Hermione wants her tesseract BACK, Humor, I spent way too much time researching infinity stones, MCU canon is thrown out the window, Misunderstood Loki, Nick Fury fears Hermione, Odin is a grade A asshole, Protective Frigga (Marvel), Puppy dog Thor, Teddy gives us all grey hair, Thanos is a dick, The flerken has arrived, canon divergent after Avengers, no beta we die like men, the Avengers actually function in this one, you do NOT want to know how many tabs I have open while writing this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:40:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26541544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astraea_717/pseuds/Astraea_717
Summary: One minute, Hermione’s researching her favorite blue cube. The next, she’s saving the world. The Brightest Witch of Her Age finds a place for herself amongst the Avengers, changing everything.And to think she only wanted to get her tesseract back.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Loki (Marvel)
Comments: 69
Kudos: 305





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, timeline-wise Battle of Hogwarts is getting bumped up to May 2008, and Avengers takes place in 2012. This means Hermione is 23! Yay, math! 
> 
> Disclaimer: Bud, if I owned either Harry Potter or Marvel, Fred would still be alive, Harmony would’ve been the endgame, and Tony would most definitely not have died bc honestly, what were they thinking? But I don’t, so now I suffer and write my own happy endings. *sigh* 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit 12/30: going on mini hiatus until I get my motivation back for this one. I got super invested in irondad/spiderson fics and now can’t think of anything else (rip) so it’ll probs be another month or so before I circle back to this fic. Sorry :( but no worries I’m not dropping it!! Just going on a bit of a break :)

The air in Nick Fury’s office at S.H.I.E.L.D’s main headquarters was so thick with tension you could cut it with a butter knife. The british woman glared down at him (he had no idea how, she was at least a foot shorter than him), her arms crossed over her bust. His hand twitched slightly, wanting to go hover over the gun holstered to his side, but he couldn’t. He knew showing any weakness in front of her would be a mistake. He couldn’t let her win. _Shit. Fucking hell, what is the goddamn point of being the director of S.H.I.E.L.D if I can’t send a lackey to do the dirty work?_

 _Stay strong,_ he told himself. _You are the one in charge here._

Yeah, right. 

“Nicholas _Joseph_ Fury!”

He winced at the sound of her voice pitching higher with every word. _Shit. We’re using full names now._

He had never been so glad for soundproof rooms as he was then. The last thing he needed were S.H.I.E.L.D underlings witnessing this – God help him if he let the tiny brunette ruin his reputation. He forced a calm, slightly annoyed look on his face. (It was a lie. They both knew it.)

“I leave for a _week_ and come back to an international catastrophe!”

Fury scowled a bit at that one (it was a sore topic, okay?). He shut his good eye briefly, sending up a prayer for mercy – or a quick death, he really wasn’t all that picky.

“Hermione,” he started, raising his hands in a placating gesture. She glared harder, and her hair started to spark. 

“You just up and decided that you were going to let Erik Selvig – bless his little scientist soul – poke and prod and _experiment_ with my work _without me_? _What were you thinking?!”_

“Hermi–”

“And _then,_ ” She stepped closer, and Fury resisted the urge to take a step backwards. By now, her hair was three times its normal size. He eyed it warily. “You have the _gall_ to tell me that you lost my tesseract? The most interesting thing to research I’ve come across in _years_ , and you _lose_ it?”

“It isn’t _your_ tesseract,” Fury couldn’t help but say, trying (unsuccessfully) to keep the bite out of his voice. “But,” he continued in a more controlled tone – _honey, not vinegar,_ he reminded himself – “I may be willing to reconsider who gets access to it in the future, _if_ you assist in helping us get it back.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, thinking on his offer for a few seconds before a flicker of understanding ran across her face. “You want me to be a part of the Avengers Initiative, don’t you?” 

A litany of curses ran throughout his mind, but he kept his facial expression carefully blank. He didn’t have to ask how she knew of the Avengers Initiative. _Dammit Phil, we have got to work on getting you a backbone against Hermione._ “And if I do?” He asked, raising a brow, working hard to project an air of nonchalance that Hermione almost certainly saw through. 

“The Statute of Secrecy–”

“Has been dealt with. You forget that I’m friends with Kingsley, too,” Fury said smugly. Hermione gave him a little glare for the sass. “The public will think you’re enhanced, not that you’re a witch. No one will know any better, believe me.”

“And the team? Would they know?”

“Up to you. If you decide you want to trust them, go right ahead. I’m sure your people can handle the situation if any of them react – ah, _unfavorably_ – to the truth. You know that as of right now, Coulson and I are the only ones who know. It can stay that way.”

“So, what? You want me in a costume, running around and saving the world alongside a patchwork group of superheroes?” She asked incredulously, hands waving around the air to emphasize her point. Fury only looked at her. “Of course,” she muttered. “You knew that I wouldn’t be able to say no, didn’t you?” She said accusingly. “Bloody hell, Harry’s ‘saving people thing’ must be rubbing off on me,” she groaned, dropping her head in her hands. For a few seconds she did nothing but breath deeply, trying in vain to think through the situation, then she lifted her head to look at Fury. 

“Okay, so, if I’m doing this, here’s what’s gonna happen. I am going to join the Avengers Initiative – though, to be clear, I am still a freelancer, and reserve the right to say ‘no’ _–_ and go get my baby back from that arsehole, and then I am going to be the _only_ one who says who can and cannot touch that thing. If I do this for you, when this is all over, the tesseract is essentially mine alone to research, you understand? Of course, I won’t take it away from you, but I control who gets access – no matter what.” She punctuated the statement with a sharp look, quelling what little resistance Fury had. 

Still, he refused to give up the illusion that he was the one in control, and therefore waited for at least a half a minute before grumbling out a reluctant “Deal,” a bit put off by her terms, but mostly pleased that he managed to rope her into being an Avenger. And he hadn’t even had to stand up to her Look of Death™. Overall, a good interaction with the Brightest Witch of her Age. He reached into his desk, pulling out a small tablet. “This is everything we know so far,” he said, holding it out to the witch. “Look it over.”

Hermione gave a nod, taking the tablet. “Alright, then. You go get the rest of the team together, I’ll be doing my homework. You know how to contact me.” Fury bristled slightly at being ordered about (in his own office!) but as he opened his mouth to snap at the woman, there was a quiet _pop_ and he was alone in the room. 

“Jesus christ, the things I put up with for the good of the world,” Fury growled, scowling at the empty space where Hermione once stood. He stood there for a moment more, then strode out of his office to figure out how his plans were progressing. With any luck, he would be up in the air by tomorrow. 

* * *

Hermione popped into existence in her townhouse in West Village. It was one of her favorite places, second only to the Hogwarts library. The building itself was a gorgeous work of romantic architecture – the stairs led up to a deep red door nestled inside a dark, ornate arch surrounded by a faded brick façade and floor-to-ceiling windows with sheer white curtains (charmed so no one could see in, of course). When she moved herself to America for her job, she decided she was going to give herself the home she always dreamed of. She was more than comfortable (as the blood-adopted sister of Harry Potter-Black, she had access to both vaults, and could now say that she was way past being ‘filthy rich’) and after strolling through the picturesque neighborhood, she could imagine living nowhere else. 

Sighing, she glanced around her place. Her liberal use of expansion spells meant she had room for anything she could dream of. Potions lab? Check. Greenhouse? Got it. A kitchen Martha Stewart would die for? Why not. Light and airy, there was a bookshelf in every room and comfortable throws strewn across the couches and armchairs. Plants took up the rest of the space (Neville’s influence, though she tended to stick to the more mundane plants), and a delicate teapot was waiting for her on the island in the center of her kitchen. She crossed over and poured herself a cup, calling out a “Thank you, Winky!” (S.P.E.W. was quickly dismantled after she discovered that any unbonded elf slowly and painfully died. Now, she was the proud supporter of F.A.R.E, or the Foundation for the Advocation of the Rights of Elves) before settling down in her favorite red armchair. Taking a couple of sips of her perfectly-made tea, she thought on the eventful day she had. 

She needed to tell Harry. 

She did _not_ want to tell Harry. 

God, Harry was going to be so cross with her. 

But honestly, he should have known better. She never meant to get involved in these sorts of things, they just sort of happened to her. Case and point – the troll, Fluffy, the basilisk, Sirius, the Department of Mysteries...the list goes on and on. 

She sighed again. Heavily. _Might as well get it over with_ , she thought, already cringing at the thought of the tongue-lashing she was going to get. She had taught him the art maybe _too_ well.

Making her way to her fireplace, she grabbed a handful of floo powder and called out “Twelve Grimmauld Place!” before disappearing into the green flames. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo....*chuckles nervously* it really shouldn’t have taken me this long, but the muse is a fickle thing, and I had to figure out where I am actually going with this (people said they couldn’t wait to see where I took this story – yeah, me too). I’m writing with an almost nonexistent outline because that’s just how I roll, so, um, don’t hate me when it’s a couple weeks between updates?? *dodges flying vegetables* *shoves this nice, long chapter at you in hopes of keeping you happy*
> 
> Oh yeah, and school just started, so my free time went down like 1000%...it’s gonna be a struggle. Honestly, the things that best give me motivation are reviews, so if you want more, be sure to let me know!
> 
> Riiiiight, so, to recap – hope you like this, blah blah blah, reviews are good for the soul :) (hint, hint), enjoy Teddy being the cutest fucking thing you’ve ever read about, and I don’t science so literally all the scientist-talk is complete bullshit with some random words I plucked from Wikipedia :) 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or MCU, anything you recognize isn’t mine.

Hermione stepped out of the swirling green flames and into Grimmauld Place, muttering a quick cleaning charm to get rid of the insane amount of soot in her hair and on her clothes.

"Harry?" She called out, not seeing him in the living room. Kreatcher _popped_ into the space next to her.

"Master Harry is in the Kitchen, Miss Miney," he croaked out, before _popping_ out of the room once more. Hermione started towards the kitchen, nervously running through her arguments in her head. _It'll be fine,_ she told herself, _I'll be fine._ She entered the room, where Harry stood in front of the stove, sleeves rolled up past his forearms, cooking something or other that smelled absolutely delicious.

"Mmm," Hermione closed her eyes, sniffing the air. "What are you making?"

Harry moved the skillet off the stove, then made his way over to the icebox. "Chicken pot pie with biscuits," he answered absentmindedly, rummaging around before pulling out a slab of dough. He then froze as his mind caught up with him. "Wait, Hermione! What are you doing here?" He dropped the dough onto the counter and hurried over to her side, pulling her into a tight hug. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

Hermione chuckled. "I came over for dinner two weeks ago, Harry."

"Exactly," Harry said, grinning. " _Forever._ Anyways, why'd you come to visit?"

Hermione suddenly became very interested in the pattern of the stove's backsplash. _Seriously, Harry, little golden snitches?_ "Er, no reason! Just wanted to spend time with my favorite little brother!" She said, forcing cheer into her voice. _God, I'm weak. Just rip the plaster off, Hermione._ Harry pulled away from her, frowning.

"Hermione? You alright?"

She took a deep breath. "Yes! It's just that, er – you see, the thing is…um, you remember what I'm researching?"

Harry looked confused. "Of course, Mia, you wouldn't shut up about that damn glowy cube thing."

Glowy cube thing? _Glowy cube thing?_ Hermione rolled her eyes. Did she have enough time to educate him?

 _Yes_ , she decided, _yes I do_.

Hermione placed one hand on her hip in preparation, making sure she still had a hand free to wave and gesture as she made her point. She took a breath. "Honestly, Harry, do you ever pay attention to me when I speak about work? That ' _damn glowy cube thing_ ' is a treasure trove of unmatched power, both magical and technological! If I could just figure out how to convert it into usable energy or magic, so many things in this world could be solved. We could get internet and electricity to third world countries for next to no cost! We could harness magic in a way that it is self-sustainable – think wards that last forever, or a wand for squibs that doesn't require a magic user to push their own magic through it. The possibilities–"

"Woah, _woah_ , Hermione, I didn't ask for a lecture!" Harry cut her off before she spiraled too deep. He knew that after thirty seconds, nothing short of a small explosion could get through to her. Hermione huffed at his interruption. "You're acting weird, Mia. Tell me what's wrong."

She bit her lip. Took a deep breath.

"I joined the Avengers!"

For a moment, Harry was quiet. Then, he spoke, his voice dangerously soft. " _What_."

 _Well fuck,_ Hermione thought. _I'm gonna die._ Angry Harry was supposed to be loud. An Angry Harry that was _quiet?_ Merlin help her.

Hermione gave a weak smile that fooled nobody and did some jazz hands. "Surprise!"

Harry was unmoved.

"Hermione," he began, his voice still scarily calm, " _Why_ did you join what you once described to me as, and I quote, ' _a group of dysfunctional vigilantes that would just so happen to have the backing of an extra-governmental military organization_ '? I thought we had been through this! We're supposed to be leading relatively normal lives now!"

Hermione scoffed. "As if we could _ever_ have normal lives, mister Man-Who-Conquered, _Master of Death_." Harry winced at the reminder of his very much unwanted titles. "Plus," Hermione went on, her hair crackling a bit as her magic flared with her annoyance, "someone _stole my tesseract!_ If you think for one second I'm about to let some incompetent group go after my favorite thing to research _without me_ , then dying has clearly left you without any brain cells!"

Harry continued to stare stone-faced at her, then with a huff he dropped himself into a worn leather armchair. "Does you little spy organization know you tell me all this classified information?" He asked wryly, scrubbing his hands down his face.

Hermione smirked. "Of course not. Do the Aurors know that you still talk through active cases with me?"

Harry snorted into his palms. "Godric, no." He paused, then looked up at her. "You really want to do this? They aren't forcing you or anything, right?" He asked, a hint of worry beneath the steel in his voice.

Hermione smiled slightly. "No, Harry, they aren't forcing me to do anything." She gave a soft sigh. "I know I'm making it out to be that the tesseract is my main reason, but really, the thing is, I _miss_ it – you know, helping save people. And honestly, I think this might be the way I can make a big difference. I actually _want_ to be back in the thick of it again." She laughed dryly. "You've corrupted me."

He raised an eyebrow. "Me? I think you're forgetting which one of us set a teacher on _fire_."

Hermione sniffed righteously. "He deserved it!"

Harry laughed. "Yeah, yeah he did." He looked at Hermione, his face growing serious once more. "Mia…remember to call me if you need backup, okay? And if anything – and I mean _anything –_ happens to you, you better believe I'll burn the world to get to you." His eyes hardened at the thought, and as Hermione met his sharp stare, she almost pitied whatever poor being was on the receiving end of his promise.

"I know," She said. She opened her mouth to say how much she loved him for that, but was cut off by a shout of " _Aunt Mia!"_ and a small body colliding against her legs. A wide grin broke out across her face as she looked down at the small child hugging her knees. "Teddy bear!" She ruffled his teal hair and he smiled angelically up at her.

"Aunt Mia! Guess wha'! Guess wha'!" He bounced in excitement. "Daddy let me go on his bwoom with him! And we flied _super_ fast!"

Hermione snapped her gaze over to Harry, whose face paled. "That's great, darling!" She said in a sugar-sweet voice, a sharp, predatory smile directed at her brother. He audibly swallowed.

"Mia–"

Teddy cut off his groveling. "An' Vicky came o'er and we played Dwagons and Pwincesses!" Hermione's eyes were back on Teddy's, a soft look on her face. Harry breathed a sigh of relief that Teddy had distracted Hermione from what would've surely been a painful spat for him (especially if she had used those thrice-damned birds). Teddy shot him a smug look (something that should _not_ have looked so natural on a four-year-old) that said he knew exactly what he had saved Harry from, and that he expected some sort of compensation. _Well, I guess I know who is getting a second helping of dessert tonight,_ Harry thought.

"Mia!" Teddy tugged Hermione's shirt and she leaned down. He lowered his voice a bit, and put a finger to Hermione's lips. "Shh, Mia, this is a secwet – me an' Vicky is getting mawwied!" Hermione's eyes widened at that, and she let out a surprised chuckle. A quiet choking sound came from Harry's direction.

"You are?" They both asked at the same time, Hermione's tone amused while Harry's was alarmed.

Teddy nodded seriously. "Vicky said we's have to, or we can't do cuddles anymo'e!" Hermione bit back a laugh at the distraught look on Teddy's face. Teddy turned to face Harry and waggled a finger at him. "Daddy, you have to get workin'!"

"Working on what, kiddo?" Harry was almost scared for the answer.

Teddy looked at him as if he were stupid for not knowing. "You need to grow my room, so Vicky can fit her bed and toys in it too." The _duh_ was left unsaid.

"Er…" Harry turned wide, eyes towards Hermione, pleading for help. She was unaffected. _You can get yourself out of this mess,_ her look said. Harry thought frantically for a moment, then turned back towards Teddy and adopted a faux-serious face. "Teddy, there's one thing we need to check before this happens – have you asked Victoire's father if she can marry you yet?"

The dismayed look on Teddy's face was answer enough. " _What?!"_ He cried, his hair turning a deeper shade of blue. "I didn't know that, I didn't know!"

Harry nodded solemnly. "Then I'm sorry, bud, but you can't get married yet."

Teddy squeaked in alarm and scrambled towards the pot next to the fireplace, reaching up on his tiptoes to carefully grab a handful of floo powder. He turned back to Harry, asking, "Shell Cottage? Please?" Harry nodded his permission, and Teddy ran and threw the powder into the fireplace. Once Teddy had stepped into the green flames, he shouted "Shell Cottage!" and left in a swirl of green.

Hermione looked quizzically at Harry. "You aren't gonna tell Bill what to expect?"

Harry smirked. "Nah – let him deal with it."

Hermione burst out laughing at the downright villainous plan, clutching at her sides. Harry joined in, sniggering at the thought of Bill having to find answers for the boy's questions. After a few minutes they both calmed down, and Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes.

"So," Harry started, "are you staying for dinner? I made Teddy's favorite. Merlin knows he'll need something to console him when Bill tells him he can't marry Victoire."

Hermione smiled at the offer, but shook her head. "Sorry, Harry, but I have work to do. You should enjoy your night off with your son."

Harry opened his mouth to try to convince her to stay, but was interrupted by a silvery falcon swooping between them. It opened its beak and Bill's terrified voice filled the room. "Harry! The kids want to get married! Teddy _asked for permission to wed my daughter!_ " In the background, Fleur's voice could be heard saying " _Oh, 'Arry, eet vas seemply adorable! Zey were 'olding one anuzzer's 'ands, 'oo could say non?"._ Bill ignored his wife and continued to panic. "My three-year-old daughter, Harry! Was proposed to! With flowers and a ring pop!" There was a pause as Bill tried to come to terms with the situation he was in. "Morgana's tit, Harry," he cursed. "This is your fault! I got my first grey hair today! Years taken off my life…my baby girl…never growing up…no…marriage…" The rest of the message devolved into random mutterings until the falcon faded away, and there was a beat of silence before Hermione spoke.

"Er – yeah, so I'm gonna go home, and you can deal with–" Hermione waved her hand in the general direction of where the patronus had been "– _that_." She pressed her lips together in an effort to keep from laughing. _That's definitely gonna be a pensieve memory._

Harry cringed at the thought of interacting with a distraught Bill Weasley before focusing back on his sister. "You don't have to do this, Hermione," he said in one last attempt to sway her.

Hermione sighed. "I do, Harry. These past five minutes were proof of that! Teddy – what Teddy deserves is to grow up safe, and I'll do anything to make that happen. Even become a superhero. And you would, too." She shot him a look that dared him to argue. He remained silent. _Smart man._ Bending to kiss him on the cheek, she made her way towards the fireplace.

"Mia!" Harry called, and Hermione paused, some floo powder clutched in her right hand. "You know I mean it when I say I'll come after you – you know, if anything goes wrong."

Hermione smiled. "Of course I do, Harry. Now, I really do have to get going – I have a fascinating reading to do on thermonuclear astrophysics before tomorrow, with the Extraction Theory and–"

"Yes, yes, now go home – and be careful!" Harry interrupted, and Hermione left through the floo with a quick " _I love you!"_ tossed over her shoulder.

* * *

Hermione woke the next day to the sound of her mobile ringing. She groaned, blindly patting the air until she found the source of the infernal noise, and silenced it. Contented that her peace and quiet was restored, she wriggled herself deeper into the covers with a little murmur. She had just drifted off again when the ringing sound filled the air once more. Hermione scowled into her pillow before angrily accepting the call.

" _What?"_ She grumbled, her voice rough with sleep.

Fury's answering snicker didn't do much for his future health.

"If you don't have a legitimate reason for calling me at–" Hermione checked the time and cursed under her breath "– _5:17 in the bloody fucking morning_ , then I'll make what I did to you in Miami seem like _child's play,_ understand?"

"How many times have I told you, _we don't speak of Miami!_ " Fury hissed. He took a steadying breath, then said brusquely, "Just – meet at these coordinates at 2 o'clock sharp. I sent along a picture of where you should appear. Rogers, Banner, and Romanoff will be there too." With a click, he ended the call, and therefore missed the very detailed description of exactly how Hermione was going to hex him when she next saw him.

"Bloody menace," Hermione muttered, throwing her phone haphazardly across the room before she tugged her covers up and fell back into a deep sleep.

The next time Hermione opened her eyes it was noon, and thin strips of daylight streamed through her blinds. Her eyes squeezed shut as she sat up to stretch with a yawn. Slipping out of bed she headed to the bathroom, where she grimaced as she caught sight of her hair in the mirror. Sure, it had tamed itself slightly since her school years, but that didn't mean it wasn't a monster to deal with in the morning. Sighing, she pulled out a brush and went to work.

Thirty minutes and a couple potions later, her hair fell in wild, cinnamon curls that she pulled into a thick bun, and she had made up her face with mascara and a nude lipstick. She stepped back to study her reflection, nodded in satisfaction, and then grabbed from her closet her favorite pair of jeans and a tight, black long-sleeve shirt. Throwing on some black boots and a leather jacket with extension charms on the pockets that she stole from Harry, she called it good. She slid her wand in her arm holster and grabbed her red kisslock clutch, which had replaced her purple beaded bag after the war, and stuffed it in her pocket.

After eating a light breakfast, she pulled out the coordinates and the photo that Fury had sent her, and with a sound like a knuckle cracking, she was gone.

* * *

She appeared in a plain, grey room that Fury had probably made entering require a clearance level so high that the president couldn't enter. Slightly adjusting her jacket and patting her hair to make sure it had survived the trip, she stepped out, making her way to the stairway that led out to the landing pad of the Helicarrier.

The sounds of agents shouting and Quinjets filled her ears as she stepped through the doorway and into open air. All around her, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in orange and yellow jackets were running back and forth purposefully.

Hermione hurried towards a woman with shoulder-length red hair who was walking towards a plane that had just landed and fell in line beside her, a wide smile on her face. "Natasha!"

"Hermione," Natasha replied with a small smile of her own. "How are you? Still making Fury's life difficult? You should hear him complain about his blood pressure – he says it's all you."

Hermione's face transformed into a scowl. "Oh, he has no idea what's coming to him."

Natasha smirked. "You know, I still haven't figured out how you got those pictures of Fury holding his cat taped to every single monitor, but let me tell you, the look on Fury's face when he realized is still in my top three favorite memories."

 _That reminds me – send Hill another 'Thank-you' cake,_ Hermione thought, then said, "He ticked me off. It was only fair." The cheshire grin on Hermione's face was mirrored by Natasha.

"One of these days, you are going to teach me." It wasn't a question.

"Maybe."

Natasha pouted, and Hermione laughed. "Yeah, that doesn't quite have the same effect on me as it does on your targets. Nice try, though."

Natasha huffed. "Well, if you're planning something, make sure I'm still in the room. Clint's been begging me for some blackmail material on Fury." At the mention of Barton, Natasha's smile faltered, but she quickly forced it back on her face.

Hermione caught it. "Hey, what's wrong with Clint? You two have a spat or something?"

Natasha shook her head. "No, nothing like that. It's just – Clint's been compromised."

"What?" Hermione stopped walking. "What do you mean, _compromised?"_

Natasha was silent for a few seconds, then sighed. "You remember who stole the tesseract?"

Hermione snorted softly. "How could I forget? That bastard's the reason I'm here."

"He used the scepter to take over Clint's mind. He's trying to kill us now." Natasha's face was carefully blank, a perfect mask that came from years of training.

Hermione turned to Natasha, looking horrified. "Shite. Are you okay?" She asked, concerned. _Godric, another form of the imperius. Great._

"I'll be better when we get him back and make that bastard pay."

They reached the plane they had been heading towards just as Coulson and Rogers stepped out of it.

"Five quid says he signed the trading cards," Hermione murmured to Natasha.

She smirked. "Deal."

"Agent Romanoff, Hermione – this is Captain Rogers," Coulson said, his tone tinged with glee and awe from meeting his childhood hero.

"Ma'am." Rogers nodded to both women.

Hermione gave him a little wave and a smile. Natasha nodded back and said "Hi," before turning back to Coulson. "They need you on the bridge, they're starting the face trace."

"See you there," Coulson said as he left. The three remaining started towards Banner, who was on the other side of the Helicarrier.

Natasha looked towards Rogers and remarked, "It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon." Her voice held only the slightest hint of amusement when she asked, "Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?"

Hermione cursed under her breath and slid some cash into Natasha's waiting hand, much to the bemusement of Steve.

"They're vintage – he's very proud." Natasha said dryly, pocketing the money.

Hermione grinned. "I wonder what sort of favor Phil called in to be able to fly with you, Captain."

They came to a stop in front of Banner, who looked lost and confused as he stumbled around, somehow getting in the way of every single agent around him.

"Dr. Banner," Steve called, walking up to him and holding out his hand.

"Oh, yeah, hi." Banner shook Steve's hand, looking him over. "They told me you'd be coming."

"Word is you can find the cube."

Banner hesitated. "Is that the only word on me?" He asked half-heartedly.

"Only word I care about," came Steve's response, and Hermione's respect for him rose a couple of notches.

Hermione stepped forward, a wide smile on her face, and gave his hand an excited shake. "Dr. Banner, _so_ lovely to meet you. I have to say, I'm so glad for the opportunity to work together, even if the circumstances are – er, _less than ideal_." They shared a wince at the reminder of the homicidal maniac running around with not one, but _two_ incredibly powerful artifacts. She quickly moved on. "Anyways, just wanted to say that your work involving a piezoelectric transducer as a means to make gamma radiation phasable is incredible, and is definitely going to be revolutionary in terms of quantum physics. I was wondering if maybe, once we find my tesseract, you'd be interested in studying how it interacts with some of your own research?"

Banner blinked. "Uh, thank you, um – Dr. Granger, was it?"

"Please, call me Hermione," Hermione said kindly.

"Then call me Bruce," Banner replied, a slight smile on his face.

Natasha spoke up. "Gentlemen, Hermione – you may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breathe." A small smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.

The air filled with the sound of voices directing agents over the intercom and metal clanking into place, all underscored by a high pitched whirr of an engine.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve sounded incredulous.

"Really?" Bruce gave a scoffing laugh. "They want _me_ in a submerged, pressurized metal container?"

Natasha stayed silent, sharing a look with Hermione – who, for one, was _not_ thrilled to be flying thousands of feet in the air. The two men were oblivious, and walked over to the edge of the Helicarrier, looking down at the churning water around the enormous turbine engines.

"Oh, no." Banner said. "This is much worse."

 _Seriously?_ Hermione thought, safely in the middle of the Helicarrier. _We tell them to get inside and they go closer to the edge of what they thought was a submarine?_ "Boys! Instead of getting sucked off the edge of this Helicarrier and chopped up into tiny little pieces by the propeller, I suggest following us _inside_!" Hermione's hands were on her hips as she shouted over the wind.

Bruce and Steve shared a slightly chagrined look, and trailed after the two women as the Helicarrier finally lifted out of the water.

Once inside, they made their way to the bridge of the ship, where Fury stood overlooking his agents. Steve pulled out 10 dollars and handed it to Fury, much to Hermione's amusement, and Banner started discussing using cameras and spectrometers to search for the tesseract. Natasha was pulled away from checking on Clint's whereabouts when Fury asked her to lead Hermione and Bruce to their labs.

She stood and walked past them, tossing over her shoulder, "You guys are gonna love it – it's got all the toys."

* * *

After calibrating some computers to track the gamma rays picked up from the spectrometers, Hermione and Bruce spent a couple hours talking science – bouncing ideas off each other using their respective knowledge of the tesseract and gamma radiation. After that, Hermione talked a bit about how the tesseract seems almost sentient, and how, funnily enough, it has people that it simply will not cooperate with.

"You know, the tesseract absolutely despises Brittany from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s R&D sector – you will not _believe_ the amount of plastic surgery she needed when it blew up in her face." Bruce looked a little warily at Hermione and her utter lack of concern for the woman. She caught him eyeing her and scoffed dismissively. "Oh come on, Brittany absolutely deserved it. You do _not_ want to know how many times she mentioned how my hair was a disaster or how the secretary to Fury's office was a slag, on top of nattering on to anyone who would listen how _smart_ and _perfect_ she was. Now, though – well, let's just say that the plastic surgery did _not_ agree with her, and that shut her up pretty quick."

Just then, Natasha stuck her head in, calling out, "Loki's been spotted in Germany. Suit up and meet in the hangar, Hermione, we're taking the Quinjet."

Hermione cursed under her breath. "I knew I was missing something." She turned to Bruce. "Got to go see if Fury has my costume. Wish me luck!" With that, she left in search for the Director, praying against all hope that her outfit wouldn't be too ridiculous.

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me," Hermione said flatly, looking at what she was expected to wear. " _This_ is what you and Kingsley came up with?"

Fury stood beside her, arms crossed. "Just put on the damn suit, Granger. And for your information, I didn't come up with it. They didn't want 'witch' to be the first thing anyone thought of, so this is what you get. White and gold colors, codename 'Angel'. Deal with it."

They stood in front of a dummy wearing what Kingsley had apparently thought acceptable for Hermione Granger, the Brightest Witch of Her Age, to wear into battle. White dragonhide made up the fitted tailcoat – _a good choice_ , she thought reluctantly, as it was near indestructible, and nothing short of a missile dropped right on top of her would damage it. Gold filigree decorated the cuffs of the sleeves and the edges of the jacket, as well as adorned the back of the neck and collar, swirling down to a point between the shoulderblades. Draped over each shoulder was gold armor, crafted to look like feathered wings which lay flush against the back of her coat, the tips reaching to her hips. Boots made of the same sturdy dragonhide as her coat reached just above the knees and had golden closures running up one side. Tucked into them were thick, white trousers, a knife holster secured around her right thigh. A golden belt looped around her midsection twice, a small, bottomless bag hanging from it, and an ornate white bodice embellished with swirling, gold designs fit snugly over a long-sleeve undershirt. Elaborate golden armor covered the forearms, the inside of each holding a small knife and a hidden holster for her extra wands (she had three – what could she say, war had made her paranoid).

Hermione walked closer to the dummy. "Honestly, Nick, the longer I stare at it, the more I'm okay with wearing it. I mean, if I die, then at least I go out in style." She pulled open the coat. "I mean, look at this. Lined with pockets – _ooh,_ undetectable extension charms, _very_ nice – and a lovely little assortment of knives in there too, how delightful!" She pulled one out, testing its weight in her hand.

"I hear they're enchanted to always return to you, and that they all are imbued with a fast-acting poison that will paralyze your opponent for a couple minutes," Fury explained while Hermione experimentally slashed through the air. He took a small step back, just enough to be out of stabbing range. _You can never be too careful._ "The other side has the guns. Now, put the knife away and go meet Natasha. You leave in–" he checked his watch "–two minutes."

Hermione glared at him as she replaced the knife. "You're lucky I can just magick this onto me, otherwise we would be at least an hour late." With a flick of her wand, the ensemble materialized on her body, her original clothes appearing on the mannequin. She flexed her wrists and wiggled around a bit, surprised at how comfortable it was. Giving a few experimental kicks and punches she tested her range of motion, and then stowed her wand in the holster on her wrist. She grabbed her little red bag, attaching it to her belt, and shoved her old clothes into it.

"One minute," Fury told her, and the last thing he saw of Hermione was her scowl before she turned on the spot and vanished.

* * *

Reappearing inside the Quinjet, Hermione turned to the cockpit and came face-to-face with one of Natasha's guns.

She raised her hands in surrender. "Hey, it's just me," she said in a calming tone, and slowly, the guns lowered.

"So you're enhanced," Natasha said, her head tilted slightly. "That explains a bit more why Fury wanted you on the team. The file on you didn't say much – and by that, I mean it said nothing. Which is interesting because, as far as I know, you are a simple S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist researching the tesseract."

Hermione hummed in a non-committal way, explaining nothing. Natasha's eyes narrowed, but before she could demand more information, Steve walked in.

"So, Germany, was it? I don't really have the fondest memories of there, you know," he said as he sat, placing his shield on the floor next to him.

"Stuttgart. We're leaving now." Natasha answered, and Hermione took her seat as they lifted off.

* * *

They arrived in Germany soon after.

"Guys, I have eyes on Loki. Multiple copies of him are surrounding civilians, one is speaking – that's probably the real Loki. He has the scepter." Natasha spoke over the intercom as she lowered the hatch so Rogers could jump out. "Crap, a civilian has engaged Loki. He's getting ready to fire – Cap, Hermione, you ready?"

Steve answered by jumping out of the airplane, and Hermione apparated down to the outskirts of the crowd. Surreptitiously casting shield charms around the civilians, she watched as Steve blocked a blue beam of energy from hitting the old man. It bounced back into Loki, who was blasted to the ground. His doubles disappeared and the crowd scattered. Steve watched as Loki slowly got to his knees, the ridiculous golden headpiece somehow still in place. Hermione rolled her eyes. _Steve had all the time in the world to hit him again, but does he? No, of course not._

"The soldier," Loki mocked, using the scepter to pull himself to his feet. "The man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time."

Hermione appeared with a _crack_ next to the Captain and began to stalk towards the god, flicking her wand into her hand. Her hair crackled with her magic, the curls bouncing lightly with every step she took. The slight widening of Loki's eyes was the only thing that betrayed his surprise at her sudden arrival. _I swear to Merlin, I'm so done with this whole 'you deserve to be ruled over' thing,_ Hermione thought, annoyed.

"So you are what passes for a god nowadays." She looked at him disdainfully. "I have to say, I'm unimpressed." With a twitch of her wrist she sent a stunner in Loki's direction.

He twisted his body sideways to avoid the bolt of red light, a slow smirk creeping across his face as he looked her up and down. "And I guess you are what passes for an angel, aren't you, Witchling?"

The Quinjet appeared in the air above them, Natasha's voice ringing through the air. "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." The machine gun whirred to life as it swung around to point at the god. He ignored it, continuing to stare at the witch in front of him.

Hermione glared back at him and, with a jab of her wand, sent a flock of ravens to dive and peck at Loki. He didn't even move – simply grinned and vanished them. She narrowed her eyes, and there was a moment of stillness before she began to fight in earnest, slashing and flicking her wand, throwing curses and hexes his way. He returned fire, sending back blue and green bursts of light that dissipated against her shields. They spun around, ducking and striking with practiced ease, moving so smoothly around the other that it almost looked as if they were dancing – a dangerous dance, yes, but a dance nonetheless. They were both breathing hard when Hermione decided to switch tactics and flexed her wrist, a knife sliding into her palm. She twirled it around so that when she gripped the handle, the blade faced downwards.

He gave a low chuckle. "Such fire, Witchling," he murmured, almost to himself, before there was a soft, green glow, and his hand held a silver-bladed dagger instead of a scepter. As soon as it appeared Hermione rushed at him, and then they were a tangle of swinging blades and limbs. She sliced up at his face only for him to grab her wrist, yanking her towards him. The arm with which he held his dagger snaked around her waist and pinned her arm against her side, the blade scraping against the golden wings on her back, trapping her flush against him. Hermione's other hand, which clutched her knife, was held up next to his face, his tight grip on her wrist preventing her from slashing towards him.

He looked down at her. "You know, angel," he started conversationally, as if they weren't in the middle of trying to maim one another, "you are _much_ more interesting to fight than these weak, fragile mortals." There was a pointed glance thrown towards Steve, who was standing around uselessly, trying to figure out how to intervene without harming Hermione. He glared at the god, who dipped his head closer to hers. "Come with me – we can share the burden of bringing order to this chaotic world," he cajoled her, his voice a whisper.

Hermione snarled. "Like I would willingly go anywhere with someone who thinks wearing golden antlers makes him look impressive. Tell me, what are you overcompensating for?"

To her surprise, Loki leaned his head back and laughed. There was a wicked glint in his eye when he looked back to her. "I'll have you know, Witchling, that I _overcompensate_ for nothing. However, if you'd like to make sure–"

He was cut off by the sound of AC/DC gradually filling the air, and both heads turned towards the red and gold armored man as he flew towards them.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Hermione twisted around and under Loki's arm, breaking his grip, and swung wide at him, but hit only air when he ducked. Trying again, her knife skidded across his own, blades clashing, each pushing into the other. He stepped backwards, and the sudden lack of pressure threw Hermione off balance. As she stumbled forward a step, he quickly cut upwards and his blade caught on her cheek, the long, thin gash immediately starting to bleed. Hermione hissed in pain and he froze for a second, an almost concerned expression flickering across his face.

He took a step towards her and then, without warning, there was a huge, speckled grey wolf where Loki had been. Before she could react he bounded over and pinned her beneath his large paws, knocking the breath out of her. Loki stared at her in his wolf form, tongue lolling as he panted, and he seemed to smirk before giving her face a long, almost gentle lick, right on the thin cut he had inflicted. She jerked back, glaring at him, and Steve had just started to rush over when she shifted.

Loki, almost twice the size of a normal wolf, looked downright small atop the lioness.

A tiny yelp came from the wolf when she threw him off of her and then pounced, reversing their previous positions. The lioness growled, and, in a flash of golden light, Loki shifted into his human form once more, this time in a black suit, the scepter halfway underneath him. Hermione waited a moment more, digging her claws slightly into Loki's chest in warning before turning back as well, this time holding a knife to his throat.

Loki looked at the witch above him with nothing short of reverence.

A slow clap sounded from the sidelines. "Well shit, angel, I'm pretty sure you just topped me in the 'Flashy' department. Tell me, what kind of tech was that, because I _will_ pay you for it."

Hermione quickly bound Loki with an _incarcerous_ and grabbed the scepter before turning to Tony, smirking. "No tech, Tony. I'll give you a demonstration later, no worries."

Stark grinned, then turned to Steve. "Ah, Capsicle, don't look so put out. You just got to watch a beautiful woman take down a god – surely that got the blood pumpin' down south. If not, then – well, maybe that ice did more damage than I thought."

Steve gave a choking cough, then glowered at Tony. "Look here, you–"

Hermione cut in, chiding, "Boys, can we resume measuring once we get into the Quinjet?" Floating Loki behind her, she gestured with the scepter for them to follow her before making her way to the plane.

Tony shared a look with Steve at the casual display of power and gave a low whistle before sauntering after her, Steve not far behind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, full disclosure, there was gonna be more to this chapter but I felt bad about not posting for like a month and decided that you guys deserved to not wait another week for the chapter to be finished, so here we are!! Hope you enjoy, don’t forget that reviews feed my muse 💕💕 I love you all, thanks so much for all the love in your comments!
> 
> Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own Harry Potter or MCU ☹️ if I did I would be rich, and since I have only $3 and a pack of hot cheetos to my name, I’m not sure I qualify.

After getting Loki all strapped in and the scepter safely stowed away, Hermione, Steve, and Tony crowded into the cockpit around Natasha. 

“I don’t like this,” Steve said quietly, watching Loki with no small amount of distrust on his face. 

“What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?” Tony muttered back. 

Hermione quietly snorted at the nickname then said, “I mean, I wouldn’t say he gave up _easily,_ but still – he shouldn’t be peacefully accepting his fate, that’s for sure. Something’s up.”

Tony turned to Steve and mouthed _‘not you’_ before saying, “So, Cappie, you’re pretty spry for an older fellow – what’s your secret, pilates?”

“What?” Steve asked, completely unprepared for the turn the conversation had taken.

“It's like calisthenics,” Tony explained, and when he got no reaction, he mused, “You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle.”

Hermione bit the inside of her cheek to keep from snickering at the pained look on Steve’s face.

Just then, a flash of lightning and thunder echoed throughout the dark sky, causing the jet to shake. Hermione froze, quickly taking a deep, calming breath. Heights were still far from her favorite thing, and having to apparate to safety from a falling plane did not sound like her idea of fun. She clenched her fists into her coat until her knuckles were as white as the dragonhide.

“Where's this coming from?” Natasha asked, looking around the sky. 

Loki tensed and glanced around apprehensively.

“What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?” Steve asked dryly. 

Loki looked towards him slowly. “I’m not overly fond of what follows,” he said bluntly. Steve and Tony shared a glance.

Hermione had just understood the implications of his comment when something landed on top of the Quinjet with a loud _thunk,_ causing it to rock back and forth. She stumbled, reaching out to catch herself on the edge of the doorway.

“You might want to stand back, Witchling,” Loki advised, his voice low and strained. Hermione cautiously edged closer to the side of the jet.

Tony grabbed his helmet and slapped the button to lower the ramp. 

“What’re you doing?” Steve yelled over the wind. He didn’t get an answer. 

As soon as the ramp had lowered, a large, blond man with a hammer and a red cape landed on it. Tony aimed his weaponized hand at the man, but before he could do anything the hammer slammed into his chest, knocking him back. 

The man grabbed Loki by the throat and held out his hand for the hammer, which flew into it promptly, before jumping off the Quinjet. 

They stared at the place where Loki and the man in red had been in disbelief. 

“Now there's that guy,” Tony exhaled, sounding entirely done with the situation. 

“Another Asgardian?” Natasha shouted from her co-pilot seat, annoyance coloring her tone. 

“I think it might be Thor,” Hermione yelled back.

“Is he friendly?” Steve wondered. 

“Doesn’t matter,” Tony said tersely. “If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost.” He turned, getting ready to jump out of the plane after the gods. 

“Stark, we need a plan of attack!” Steve shouted at him, desperately trying to reign in the situation. 

“I have a plan,” Stark insisted. “Attack!” 

And with that, he jumped out of the Quinjet, leaving Steve looking annoyed and exasperated. 

Hermione rolled her eyes at the dramatics. She couldn’t let them go alone, that would be a disaster. Mentally preparing herself for the extreme amount of ego she was going to have to endure, she turned on the spot. She reappeared in the shadows near where Thor had landed just in time to hear him say _‘You listen well, brother. I…’_ before a streak of red and gold hit him, throwing him off the mountain. 

Loki, who hadn’t seen Hermione yet, waited a moment. “I’m listening,” he said sardonically.

Hermione couldn’t stop the laughter that escaped her at that comment. Loki, who had spun around to try and find the source of the noise, found himself tied up to his neck in unbreakable rope. Then, for the second time that day, Hermione levitated him behind her as she walked towards where the boys were no doubt destroying the forest, tuning out the protests and subtle innuendos Loki aimed at his restraints. 

The further she walked, the more she started to hear snippets of the conversation between Tony and Thor. 

_“–Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?”_

_“–Loki will face Asgardian justice!”_

_“...Tourist.”_

She reached the edge of the small clearing just in time to see Thor throw his hammer and knock Tony straight into a tree. The hammer returned to Thor’s hand, and Stark had just readied himself to fight back when Hermione shouted “ _Enough!_ ” and stormed between them, wand out, Loki floating along behind her. 

Both men stopped to look at her, their arms still raised in preparation to attack the other. 

“Angel!” Stark cried cheekily. “Back me up here.”

Hermione glared at both of them and ignored Stark. “You are acting like _children,_ ” she hissed. “Did you two even realize you had left Loki _alone_ when you went off to have your little row?” She gestured back towards Loki.

“Oh, don’t stop on my account – I was _quite_ enjoying the way you two fought over me.” A small smirk played on the corner of Loki’s lips. 

“Brother?” Thor asked bewilderedly, staring at his brother, who was all trussed up and hovering three feet above the ground. His eyes narrowed, flickering between Loki and the women in white and gold who held a wand in her grip. “Enchantress!” His tone held both wonder and suspicion as he took in the sight of her. His eyes hardened. “I demand that you release my brother at once!” This time, there was a clear threat in his tone.

Hermione just stared at him. “Er – are we talking about the murderous one I have tied up behind me? Because if we are, then I’m going to have to refuse.”

Thor pointed at her with his hammer. “You will untie him!”

Tony let out a scoff. “Yeah, _nope._ Sorry, Point Break, but even royal murderers don’t get let off that easy.”

Thor turned his glower on Stark. “My name is Thor Odinson, and I am the God of Thunder and the rightful Ki–”

“And I am Iron Man.” Tony cut off Thor’s posturing. “Someone who doesn’t think nepotism is the way to go for this one – so unfortunately, Goldilocks, you’re gonna be heading back to Asgard empty-handed.”

Thor roared in fury and flung Mjölnir at Tony, failing to take into account the fact that Hermione was standing in front of Stark. Cries of _‘Angel – move!’_ and _‘Witchling!’_ rang through the air.

Hermione stood, hands on her hips, glaring at Thor as his hammer raced straight towards her, not flinching even as it screeched to a halt only centimeters in front of her face. Her eyes went slightly cross-eyed as she glanced down at the weapon and gasped. 

“What has he _done_ to you?” She directed the horrified question at the hammer, to the confusion of everyone. Reaching out, she pulled the hammer into her chest and soothingly patted the head, causing Mjölnir to vibrate happily at the gentle touch. Thor’s eyes widened almost comically and he made a strangled sort of sound at the act. Hermione ignored it and spun around to face him, righteous anger in every line on her face as she clutched Mjölnir tight against her. “You!” 

Thor blanched at the sight of her, holding _his_ hammer, looking at him like _that_ (she looked rather like his mother did whenever he had done something outrageously stupid, which didn’t bode well for him at all). Mouthing _‘Me?’_ , he nervously glanced behind him, hoping beyond all reason she wasn’t yelling at him, that there was some other poor, unfortunate soul to take the brunt of her ire – maybe his brother? Metal man? A tree? Sadly, there was no one else.

Hermione continued to berate him. “You should be ashamed of yourself, you daft man, neglecting Mjölnir like this! Her handle isn’t polished, her head is scratched and dull!” She turned her attention once more to Mjölnir, her voice softening in an instant. “You poor baby,” she cooed, “living with the big, ugly, unattentive _brute._ ” She punctuated the statement with a look so deadly Thor took an involuntary step back. “You must be so tired, lugging the huge man all over the place.” The hammer bobbed in the air, which she interpreted as nodding. “No one appreciates you, do they?” She snuggled Mjölnir closer, and asked again sympathetically, “Do they?” Mjölnir vibrated sadly, somehow also conveying through the movement her anger and resentment towards Thor.

“… _How?_ ” Thor choked out, still in shock at the sight of his precious hammer in the arms of the tiny witch. “I threw it straight towards you! Why did it stop? _How are you still holding Mjölnir, Enchantress?_ ”

Tony tried and failed to hold in his snigger at Thor’s distress. 

Hermione ignored him, instead focusing on Thor’s questions, her brow wrinkled. “You can’t imagine Mjölnir would allow you to throw her mistakenly at someone innocent and actually hit them, can you?” This only seemed to create more questions for Thor.

“Bu-but,” Thor spluttered, mouth opening and closing in disbelief, “how would you even _know_ that? And would you _please_ explain how you are _holding my hammer?_ ”

“Well, you _did_ leave Mjölnir in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s possession after your little tantrum in 2011 – I just happened to be the one in charge of researching her. I realized pretty quickly that she was magical, and we got to know each other after that. Believe me, Mjölnir won’t hurt me. We have an agreement.” Hermione said matter-of-factly. 

Thor gaped at Hermione. “You have an _agreement,_ ” His said in disbelief, his voice faint. “With Mjölnir. Which you are holding.” 

“Yes. Oh, and I can hold her because she likes me. What, did you think you were the only one worthy of her?” 

Loki gave a small snort of amusement, muttering “Oh, you have no idea,” loud enough for everyone to hear. 

Thor glared at him, then turned towards Hermione with a slightly sheepish look, finally realizing that yelling at the person who had gained the sympathies of his sentient weapon probably wasn’t that good of an idea. “Look, Enchantress – um,” he cleared his throat with a light cough. “Er, could I have Mjölnir back? Please?”

Hermione rolled her eyes and took a moment to confer with Mjölnir before holding her out to Thor. “You better take care of her,” she warned. Thor gulped. “And, for your information, Mjölnir is a she. Not an it.”

Thor chuckled incredulously, grabbing Mjölnir. “It is not a _she,_ it is a hammer.” There was a yelp as the hammer in question suddenly became much, _much_ heavier, and Thor nearly fell over trying to keep his grip on the handle. “Sorry! I’m sorry, it's a she, _Mjölnir is a she!_ ”

Mjölnir became light as a feather once more, and Thor nervously looked down at his once-trusty weapon, somehow knowing it – sorry, _she_ – was particularly smug about the whole situation. 

“O-kay,” Tony said, not even bothering to hold back his amusement towards Thor, “Now that that’s all settled, can we please get Reindeer Games here back onto–”

He was cut off by Thor snorting. “You do not listen, do you, Metal Man? Loki has to pay for his crimes on Asgard.”

Tony pinned him with a look. “And I don’t think _you’ve_ been listening, Lightning-boy, because I’ve said that Mischief here ain’t going anywhere until we get that Tesseract back.”

Thor opened his mouth to say more, but Hermione spoke over him. “For God’s sake!” She threw her arms into the air in exasperation, and ploughed on before one of the two gods could comment on her choice of exclamation. “Listen to yourselves! We both want the same thing here.” Rolling her eyes, she turned to Thor. “Thor, you can come with us, and then we’ll figure out Loki after we get the Tesseract.” 

Her tone allowed no room for argument. Thor had only just nodded reluctantly when a streak of red, white, and blue slammed onto the ground beside them. Immediately, Thor had Mjölnir pointed towards the perceived threat, tension radiating off of him.

“Who are you?” He growled. 

The Captain had dropped into a defensive position, his shield held in front of him. He eyed Mjölnir warily. “I’m Captain America, and I would really appreciate it if you would put the hammer down,” Steve said in his _Respect-me-or-I-will-frisbee-you_ voice. 

“Uh, yeah _no_ – bad call, he loves his ha–” Tony’s voice abruptly cut out, and he was left mouthing the rest of the sentence. Thor, who had been about to punch him with Mjölnir, burst into booming laughter. It lasted for only a second before he too was silenced, at which point he pinned Hermione with a betrayed look, mutely pleading with her to lift the spell. 

A wide grin stretched across Loki’s face. “What was that, Odinson? I could not quite hear–” Hermione stopped his gloating by flicking her wrist in his direction. Rogers opened his mouth to say something, hesitated, and then closed it again, thinking (correctly) that Hermione would probably just shut him up anyways. 

“Now,” Hermione said, looking to each of the silent men, “If you boys are _quite_ done, I think it’s time we got back to the Helicarrier.”

* * *

Hermione stood in the briefing room alongside Natasha, Bruce, Thor, and Steve, listening as Fury threatened Loki. _“Ant, boot,”_ he had said. Somehow, she got the feeling that he was a _tad_ overconfident in the cell’s ability to hold a god, but that was just her. 

“Oh,” Loki’s voice was low as he spoke to Fury, “it _burns_ you, to have come so close.” He shifted back on his feet, moving comfortably around as if he owned the place, as if he weren’t in a cage. “To have the Tesseract, to have power. _Unlimited_ power. And for what?” His voice turned scathing, and he smiled humorlessly before turning to look into the camera once more. “A warm light for all mankind to share?” He looked back towards Fury. “And then to be reminded what _real power_ is.” 

The corner of Fury’s mouth turned up briefly. “Well, let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or somethin’,” he said as he turned to leave. 

Loki let him walk a few paces before he spoke up once more. “Witchling, listen.” Hermione started slightly, not expecting to have been called out. Thor turned a questioning eye on the witch, but she was too focused on the screen to notice. 

Fury stopped, but didn’t turn around. Loki looked straight into the camera, speaking to Hermione. His voice lost the mocking quality, and if Hermione didn’t know any better she would’ve said he almost sounded sincere. “You must see that the only way to bring order – to bring _peace_ – to Midgard is to raze it to the ground and begin anew. This world is in _desperate_ need of saving, Angel.” Fury twitched at that, but otherwise didn’t move. Loki continued, his voice a low drawl. “There are monsters out there, darling – terrible beasts that would rip you to pieces, shred you apart and feel _nothing_.” His chest heaved as he spat the word, his eyes flashing in anger, and for a single moment he looked haunted, a sort of darkness crossing his face. It was gone in an instant, his features smoothing out once more. A hint of levity returned to his gaze. “If you really want to save your precious Earth–” he took a small step towards the camera, a smile playing on the corners of his lips “–then you will help me.” 

At this Fury spoke up. “Like _hell_ she’ll help you.” He turned, striding back towards his original spot in front of the glass, fixing his good eye on the God of Mischief. “If you really think some pretty words are enough to get her to join you, you obviously have a few screws loose.” 

Loki ignored the Director. His eyes locked with Hermione’s through the screen, and she wouldn’t – she _couldn’t –_ look away. “I’ve seen the horrors you dream of,” Loki said softly. “I know exactly what the war took from you; I know how much you wish to prevent it from happening again.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “I know you, Witchling, and I know that, when the time comes, you will be by my side in this fight. _This, I promise you._ ”

She jerked her eyes away from the screen, slamming down her mental walls, throwing out the shimmering blue mist that had been lazily twirling around her thoughts. Her breaths came in heavy pants. She had absolutely no idea how he had gotten through her defenses – no one, not even that _bitch_ who had tortured her for hours had managed to break her Occlumency barriers. How did she not notice when he did? He had been sitting in her mind for Godric knows how long, rifling through her memories and thoughts like she was a bloody book. There was no pain, no discomfort at all, and if she hadn’t been clued in through his egotistic monologuing, then she would have never known to throw him out. Natasha glanced towards her, an unreadable look on her face. 

“He really grows on you, doesn’t he?” Bruce said sarcastically, reaching up to rub at his chin, a small, wry smile on his face. 

“Loki’s gonna drag this out.” Steve stared down at where the video had been playing, leaning back in his chair. “So,” he glanced around, his eyes settling on the Asgardian prince. “Thor, what’s his play?”

They discussed what was happening – something about aliens and outer space – but Hermione wasn’t listening. Her mind was still buzzing, trying to figure out what the _bloody hell_ Loki was playing at. There was something wrong, something _off,_ about his speech. She couldn’t quite put her finger on whatever was bothering her, but it nagged at her brain, a tiny itch that she couldn’t reach. 

She was put off her reverie and drawn back into the conversation when Tony arrived with Coulson. 

“It’s a stabilizing agent,” he said, then turned to Coulson and muttered something about flying him somewhere and keeping the love alive. Coulson smirked and walked off, and Tony focused once again on the room at large. “Means the portal won’t collapse in on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D.”

He walked over to Thor and stopped for a moment, glanced over him and smiled with a barely-concealed smugness, patted his muscled arm twice, and moved on. Thor was left looking slightly confused. Hermione rolled her eyes. “Also, it means that the portal can open as wide – and stay open as long – as Loki wants.”

Tony walked a few more paces, stopping when he was looking out over all the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who were sitting at computers. He gestured with a lazy flick of his wrist to one side of the room. “Uh – raise the mid-mast,” he called out flippantly, then motioned to the other side “–ship the topsails.” There was a slight faltering in the sounds of keyboards tapping. Several agents looked towards him, their expressions ranging from unamused to disbelief. 

Stark dramatically pointed at a random agent. “That man is playing Galaga!” He declared loudly. Hermione held back a snort. Tony sighed. “Though we wouldn’t notice–” he waved his still-pointed finger around listlessly “–but we did.” Steve looked decidedly unimpressed at Tony’s theatrics. Stark paid him no attention, instead bringing his hand up to cover his eye. He frowned, lowering his hand as he turned to Maria. “How does Fury even see these things?” 

Hill crossed her arms, her expression impassive. “He turns.”

Stark made a face. “Well that sounds exhausting.” He started to poke and swipe at the monitors around him, thinking aloud. “The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density.” He subtly slipped a button-sized hacking device on the side of the computer. No one but Hermione noticed, and when she raised an eyebrow at him, he simply shot her a quick wink. She hid a smile. _That man,_ she thought, _is going to drive Fury insane._ Tony continued speaking to the group. “Something to–” He snapped, then clapped both his hands together “–kick start the cube.” 

Maria raised an eyebrow. “When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” She asked incredulously. 

Tony just stared at her. “Uh, last night.” She cocked her head. “The packet. Selvig’s notes. The Extraction Theory papers…Am I the only one that did the readings?” He threw his arms in the air as Steve cut in, trying to direct the conversation back to the matter at hand. 

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?”

Banner spoke up from where he was pacing beside the table. “He’d have to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.”

Tony motioned with his arms. “ _Unless_ Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.”

“Well, if he could do that–”

“He could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet,” Hermione finished, her brows drawing close together in thought. 

Stark looked between the two of them with something close to relief on his face. “ _Finally,_ ” he said, gesturing towards them. “Someone who speaks English.” Hermione laughed lightly at his antics, ignoring as Steve muttered _‘Is that what just happened?’_ under his breath. 

Stark reached out and shook Banner’s hand. “It’s good to meet you, Doctor Banner,” he said, his voice soft and sincere. Bruce nodded back respectfully before releasing his firm grip. “Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled – and I’m a huge fan of the way you, ya know, lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster,” Tony continued, flapping his hand about as he spoke. 

Bruce looked down, pressing his lips together to hide his smile. “Thanks,” he said, the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice. 

Stark turned to Hermione. “And _you_ , my dear, sweet, slightly-less-genius-than-me Kitty Cat, still need to show me that trick you did with Loki – no take-backsies, you promised.” Hermione shot him a look that promised retribution at the nickname, but acquiesced with a roll of her eyes and small nod. 

At that moment, Fury walked in. “Doctor Banner is here to track the cube – I was hoping you two might join him.” 

“Let’s start with that stick of his,” Steve said. “It might be magical, but it works an awful lot like that HYDRA weapon.”

Nick frowned. “I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube–”

“No it’s not.” Hermione’s voice cut off whatever else Fury was going to say. “It’s similar to the Tesseract, but it – it just feels… _different._ ” She screwed up her face. “I can’t quite explain it, but the magic within each one isn’t the same. When I’m around the Tesseract, the power is just so _much_. It’s everywhere in the air – it’s heavy, stifling, sometimes. With the scepter – don’t get me wrong, it’s just as powerful as the Tesseract – but it’s more subtle, less out-there. It’s different.” 

Fury’s frown deepened. “I’d still like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys,” he grumbled. 

“Monkeys?” Thor questioned. “I do not understand–”

“I do!” Steve grinned proudly. Tony exchanged a look with Banner, rolling his eyes. “I–I understood that reference.” He glanced around the table, and Hermione shot him an indulging smile. 

Tony turned towards Hermione and Bruce. “Shall we play, Doctors?” He said, leading them down to the labs with a sweep of his hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit 12/30: going on mini hiatus until I get my motivation back for this one. I got super invested in irondad/spiderson fics and now can’t think of anything else (rip) so it’ll probs be another month or so before I circle back to this fic. Sorry :( but no worries I’m not dropping it!! Just going on a bit of a break :)


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